A Summary of major Construction Projects

The vast majority of the work to improve railway lines, which impacts on the frequency and journey times info as per the journey guides, is completed over one Sat/Sun period.
So if you can't find a usual route or a train departure online, it can be worth having a look at the links to the national construction work, which you will find below.
You may then have to translate what you'll find, but it can be worth the effort to discover what's occurring and to glean whether you'll need to take a bus for part of the journey, or whether trains are being diverted.
Alterations to the usual service are often not particularly obvious when looking up the journey on a ticket booking service.

The information included below is a guide to the the more extensive construction projects which are impacting on train services for a week or more.
Therefore these are the projects which are good to be aware of if you're planning a rail pass itinerary and want to avoid any hassle, or are wondering why a typical connection isn't available on multiple dates.

These are the upcoming rail construction projects which;

• last more than a weekend, so also impact on Monday to Friday travel
• affect long-distance express trains
• result in trains being diverted, with longer journey times (which impacts on connections)
• Or, are being substituted by buses for part of the journey.

1: From September 16 - 20th and from October 25 (11:00 p.m.) to November 4 (4:00 a.m.) due to construction work, some of the Railjet (RJ / RJX) trains which take the Salzburg Hbf ↔ Innsbruck Hbf route will be diverted on to a much longer route via Bischofshofen.

2: Also from October 25 (11:00 p.m.) to November 4 (4:00 a.m.) due to construction work, some of the Railjet (RJ / RJX) trains on the München ↔ Budapest / Wien route will be diverted between Salzburg and Rosenheim and will therefore not be able to stop at Salzburg Hbf.

3: Also from September 16 - 20th due to construction work, some of the Railjet (RJ / RJX) trains on the Innsbruck ↔ München via Worgl route will be diverted between Kufstein and Rosenheim and other trains will be cancelled.

4: Due to construction work no trains will be able to run between Bischofshofen station and Selzthal station from September 9th - 29th.
This route is taken by the trains which travel between Innsbruck or Salzburg and Graz.
A rail replacement bus service, on which bicycles cannot be transported, will be set up for the daytime trains.
The night trains to/from Graz will be diverted on to a longer route via Villach.

1: Until the annual timetable change on Sunday December 8th, the faster Lyn services have been withdrawn on the Kobenhavn - Odense - Aarhus - Aalborg route.
This is due to the program of works to electrify the entire route between Kobenhavn and Aalborg.

2: Until Sunday 6 October, no trains run will be available between Aalborg and Aalborg Airport. Instead, you must use the NT's local city buses.

3: Frrom Friday 16 August to Friday 20 Septemberbuses will replace all trains between Hobro and Aalborg.
Hobro is located towards the northern end of the Aarhus H ↔ Aalborg route, so during this time the trains on the Kobenhavn ↔ Aalborg route, will be turning around in Hobro.

From November 9th to November 12th inclusive the high speed line between Paris and Avignon / Nimes will be closed due to signaling modernization work.

After 5 years of work without impact on passenger traffic, this very large-scale operation requires the complete closure of this line for 4 days. The circulation of High Speed ​​Trains will be modified, with these consequences:
• The reduction in the number of High Speed ​​Trains in circulation
• The trains which are running will take the classic line with a significant increase in travel time
• Certain stations on the Line High Speed ​​will not be served.

An overview of major construction projects can be found on the German language version of the DB website - so use Google Translate if need be.

1: Frankfurt (Main) Hbf / Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim

The Riedbahn railway which connects one of the main hubs of the German rail system, Mannheim, with destinations to the north, is to be closed for improvement until December 14th.
It is typically used by these regularly timetabled ICE trains, which on the usual timetable operate every two hours:

• Hamburg - Hannover - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Basel - Zurich - Chur
• Berlin - Kassel - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Basel - Bern - Interlaken
• Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) - ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart - Augsburg - Munich/Munchen
• Berlin - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) - Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart
• Dortmund - Dusseldorf - Cologne/Koln-Messe Deutz - Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart - Augsburg - Munich/Munchen
• Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Dusseldorf - Cologne/Koln hbf - Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Stuttgart - Augsburg - Munich/Munchen
• Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Dusseldorf - Cologne/Koln hbf - Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Basel

More information is available here.

Because many ICE services are having to be routed via Mainz, the IC trains which typically operate at least every other hour on a Stuttgart - Heidelberg - Mannheim - Mainz - Koblenz - Bonn ↔ Cologne - Dortmund - Bremen - Hamburg route won't be operating south of Koblenz until December 14th.

The daily EC trains which typically take a Hamburg - Bremen - Dortmund - Cologne - Bonn - Koblenz ↔ Mainz - Karlsruhe - Baden Baden - Basel - Interlaken or Zurich route, have been withdrawn until at least December 14th.

The daily Amsterdam - Utrecht - Armhem ↔ Koln Frankfurt Flughafen ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Basel daytime service by ICE train has been permanently cancelled.

2: Between Erfurt and Eisenach:

Until December 14th bridge reconstruction work is being carried out west of Erfurt.
The railway will therefore have a reduced capacity which will result in the temporary withdrawal of the Berlin - Halle - Erfurt - Frankfurt service of the faster 'Sprinter' ICE trains.
The route will still be taken by ICE services on these routes

• Berlin - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mannheim - Karlsruhe - Basel - Zurich
• Dresden - Leipzig - Erfurt - Frankfurt (Main) ↔ Mainz - Weisbaden

3: Between Ulm and Augsburg:

The railway between the two cities is being upgraded from August 8th to September 6th, as consequence:

• There will be a limit of 1 x ICE or IC express train hour travelling between Munich and Stuttgart
• So some trains will be cancelled between Munich and Stuttgart
• The remaining trains will be slower by 20 - 40 minutes.

4: Between Hamburg and Berlin:

The railway between the two cities is being upgraded until December 14th, as consequence:

• There will be a limit of 1 x express train (ICE / EC) train hour travelling between Berlin and Hamburg
• Most trains will be skipping their usual call in Buchen
• Ludwigslust and Wittenberge will be served by replacement bus services.

From Sept 6th to Sept 23rd a bridge is being replaced at Castleton which will close the route, resulting in all trains being replaced by buses between Manchester Victoria and Rochdale.
This will affect trains on these routes:

• Leeds - Bradford - Halifax - Hebden Bridge - Todmorden - Rochdale ↔ Manchester Victoria - Warrington - Chester
• Leeds - Brighouse - Hebden Bridge - Todmorden - Rochdale ↔ Manchester Victoria - Wigan Wallgate
• Blackburn - Burnley - Todmorden - Rochdale ↔ Manchester Victoria - Wigan Wallgate

Also on Saturdays and Sundays the York - Leeds - Bradford - Halifax - Hebden Bridge - Burnley - Blackburn - Preston - Blackpool services will be diverted away from Bradford and Halifax in order to call instead at Brighouse.

1: Milano to Domodossola

The route between Domodossola and Milano is being reconstructed over the next couple of years, so in 2024 the railway between Arona and Stresa is closed completely until September 8th.

2: Bologna to Prato

This is the route which in effect parallels the newer line used by the high speed trains which rush between Bologna and Firenze / Florence.
The older route, which includes the Apennine Base Tunnel is still typically used by:

• The up to three Intercity trains services per day which usually take a Milano - Parma - Bologna ↔ Prato - Firenze - Arezzo - Roma route - thereby providing a slower, but cheaper alternative to taking a high-speed 'Frecce' service between Milano and Roma.
• A daily Intercity train on a Milano - Parma - Bologna ↔ Prato - Firenze - Arezzo - Perugia route
• Regionale trains which operate - Bologna ↔ Prato - Which in summer, are typically the only option for rail pass users to avoid paying any reservation fees when travelling between Bologna and Firenze / Florence.

However, for most of the remainder of 2024, this route is being impacted by the need to expand its many tunnels to enable the passage of larger freight wagons.
Seemingly until September 8th, the northern part of the route will be closed completely; And then from Monday 9 September to Friday 15 November, on weekdays, a section of the route will be closed from 9.30am to 1.30pm.

As a consequence the Bologna ↔ Prato service of Regionale trains has seemingly been suspended until at least August 9th and possibly beyond.
A limited rail service will only be available on the section of the route between Prato and the station named San Benedetto V.S. Castiglione.

It also looks as though the InterCity trains won't be serving Prato until at least the timetable change on December 8th.
One of the daily InterCity trains which typically take a Milano ↔ Roma route via Prato is seemingly only operating Milano ↔ Bologna and the Milano ↔ Perugia train is operating Firenze ↔ Perugia.
The other Milano ↔ Roma Intercity service has been diverted to a Milano - Genova - Pisa ↔ Firenze - Arezzo - Roma route.

The Nightjet overnight services between both Munich / Vienna and Rome also use this route so they will not be available until September 10th/11th.

3: Milano to Tirano via Colico

Until Sept 8th a section of the railway will be closed west of Tirano, with a bus substitution in place for part of the journey.
This will extend journey times by 20 to 30 minutes.
Travel between Milano and Colico should still be possible by train.

4: Milano to Mantova / Mantua

Due to infrastructure upgrading works, the train service has been suspended between the Bozzolo and Mantua stations until December 31st 2026.
Trenord's RE trains on the Milan Central – Mantua connection are partially canceled and replaced with buses between the Bozzolo and Mantua stations.
As a consequence travelling solely by train between Milano and Mantova / Mantua is only possible by connecting in Verona.

1: Until November 3rd buses replace trains on the Frasne ↔ Neuchatel route - Passengers travelling between Neuchatel and Paris can usually make connections in and out of TGV Lyria services at Frasne.

2: A landslide has led to the temporary, but ongoing closure of the railway between the junction station at Visp and the road-rail transfer station of Täsch, which is to the south of Zermatt.
Buses are therefore replacing trains between Visp and Täsch until further notice.

3: On August 12th a storm caused extensive damage to both the ZB railway route between Interlaken and Meiringen; And the BRB route between Brienz and Rothurn.
As a result both routes are closed until further notice as extensive repairs are required.
The ZB railway is the route of the Luzern<>Interlaken Express, which is having to be replaced by buses between Meiringen and Interlaken.
The BRB has had to suspend its operations for the remainder of its 2024 season.

These are the upcoming major works on the railway lines, that will be impacting on international railway routes over sustained periods of time.

Due to extensive construction work in Germany and France, the Nightjet overnight services on these three routes will not be available until October 25:
Paris ↔ Berlin
Paris ↔ Linz - Vienna / Wien
Bruxelles - Liege ↔ Berlin

From October 28th, all routes will be offered again as scheduled.

Due to construction work and a route closure in Italy, the Nightjet overnight services between both Munich / Vienna and Romewill not be available until September 10th/11th.

Until September 15th no direct TGV INOUI trains will be able to serve Luxembourg station.

The railway between Arona and Stresa is closed completely until September 8th, so during these dates the following EC express train services will be turning around in Domodossola:
Geneve - Lausanne - Sion - Visp - Brig - Domodossola ↔ Stresa - Milano
Basel - Olten - Bern - Thun - Spiez - Visp - Brig - Domodossola ↔ Stresa -Milano

Due to construction work some long-distance trains will be diverted via St.Margrethen between Sargans until September 9th, 2024, so journey times will be extended,
This is the route taken by the daytime Railjet trains on the Zurich ↔ Innsbruck - Salzburg - Wien - Budapest / Bratislava route.
Though despite the fact that trains are seemingly being diverted and not cancelled, a replacement rail service with buses is to be set up - though it seems that this will be in place because the Railjet trains are not calling at Sargans between these dates.
The night trains are being rerouted.

Until December 9th:
(1) Some TGVs on the Paris ↔ Frankfurt route will be turning around in Mannheim or Heidelberg.
(2) The Marseille ↔ Frankfurt services will also be turned around in Mannheim.

Due to construction work, no long-distance trains will be able to run between Graz Hbf and Szentgotthárd until September 8th (5:00 p.m.)
Buses will replace the trains between these two stations.
The affected services includes the trains on the Budapest ↔ Ljubljana route.

Due to construction work north of Dijon, there will be fewer TGV services from Zurich and Lausanne to Paris and vice versa on Monday to Fridays until December 14th 2024.
There may be diversions via Strasbourg on the Zurich–Paris route.

Due to reconstruction work at Amsterdam Centraal station, which will temporarily close down its Eurostar check-in area, there will be no direct services from Amsterdam to London until at least mid-December.